Primus Telecom benefits from parent company's bankruptcy filing

A bankruptcy protection filling in the US will lift the debt burden imposed on Primus Telecom Australia from its parent company.

Primus on Tuesday announced that it has reached an agreement with its US holding company, Primus Telecommunications Group, which will result in a reduction of principal debt obligations and interest payments of more than 50 percent.

Primus Telecommunications Group overnight filed for reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

While the move in the US will see the holding group attempt to cut debt, Primus Telecom Australia plans to re-invest its free-up of cash in local operations through acquisitions, said its CEO Ravi Bhatia.

“We have excellent infrastructure that we built, and acquisitions are a good way of quickly making money out of investments,” said Bhatia.

“Now we have better free cash flow than before, to do the things we want to [in Australia].”

Primus Australia’s network, with facilities in 66 POIs and 282 DSLAMs across Australia, as well as nationwide long-distance telephone and high speed broadband services, will not be affected by the financial restructuring and there will be no job losses.

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